This Week’s Guest Chef – John McIntyre

This Week’s Guest Chef  is John McIntyre.

Chef at The Olde Castle Bar & Restaurant, Donegal Town

Born in Dublin, John McIntyre started cooking at the tender age of fifteen and learned the value of fresh, locally sourced produce from that early age. A keen sea-fisherman, John also loves trying out old recipes, putting a modern twist on the dish using ideas from abroad intertwined with traditional methods. He worked in Greens of London and Killakee House in the Dublin Mountains, reputedly the most “haunted restaurant in Ireland”, but it didn’t worry John!

John is now the Head Chef at the Olde Castle Bar & Restaurant in Donegal Town. This stone floored restaurant serves a selection of Seafood & Traditional Irish dishes, served with a modern twist. The Olde Castle Bar has, over the last few years, built a great reputation for it's food - recieving many accolades including Gastro Pub of Co Donegal in 2010. It is also included in the Bridgestone Guide.



The Olde Castle Bar's Seafood Platter for Two


John's Chargrilled Fillet Steak & King Prawns with a Basil Béarnaise

“Always get your meat from your local butcher and ask if has it been hung for at least twenty-one days. This will ensure tenderness and flavour,” says John. “I season my meat with cracked black pepper and sea salt – these bring out the flavour in the meat. I’m using Basil instead of the traditional Tarragon for this sauce as I think it works great with the Prawns.”

Basil Béarnaise Sauce

3 tablespoons white vinegar

3 tablespoons white wine

5 Peppercorns crushed

2 tablespoons shallots finely-chopped

1 tablespoon Basil chopped

1 tablespoon water

3 Egg yolks

300ml unsalted butter melted

Sea Salt, to taste

A little Garlic butter is needed to cook the prawns

Method:

1. In a saucepan, combine the vinegar, wine, peppercorns, shallots, and Basil. Bring the liquid to a boil and reduce to 1 tablespoon. Add 1 tablespoon of water. Cool.

2. Add the egg yolks and whisk, over low heat (use a double-boiler), until frothy, about 3 to 4 minutes.

3. In a steady stream, add the butter until the sauce thickens. Season with a little salt. Strain the sauce through a sieve and set aside.

Fry the seasoned steaks on a hot pan for 2 minutes each side. Leave them aside for two or three minutes to relax the meat before serving. This will let the juices balance themselves in the meat after cooking. Toss the peeled Prawns in a little garlic butter on the same pan for one minute and pour over the steak. Serve with the Béarnaise sauce.

Don't forget to Feed the Fish at the bottom of this post!
zack

Cooking Tips for the Perfect Irish Steak!

"...there is no flavour without the fat."

Irish Beef and especially Irish Steak is second to none on the world's stage of top quality meats. Our cattle are predominately grass-fed and this is something that other European countries recognise as 'special' in Irish meats. I believe that this is the main reason that our beef is the tastiest meat on the planet! 

Sirloin Steak

A good steak is one of those dishes that can simply make or break any restaurant - if butchers owned restaurants, we'd all be happy! So Buy your Meat from a local Butcher!

Here are my tips for Buying a great Steak.

1. When choosing a steak, Sirloin (also known as striploin in the trade) is a fine choice due to its tasty, melt-in-the-mouth succulence. A good steak has just the right amount of fat and nice marbling. Rump steak and Rib-eye are slightly cheaper than Sirloin but they are still great steaks for barbequing or frying, with more flavour.

2. Age of the steak is important, as the hanging process develops the flavour and tenderises the meat. So ask your butcher how long the beef has been hung for. As a rule, 21 days is a minimum and 35 days as a maximum hanging time is a good range to go for.

3. Good beef should be a deep red colour.

4. Check that the beef has good marbling - little streaks of fat running through the meat. This melts when heated, helping the steak to baste itself from within as it cooks.

5. There is no flavour without the fat! A good layer of creamy-white fat around the top of rump and sirloin steaks is essential.

Ribeye Steak

Five steps to cooking the perfect steak at home

1. Take the steaks out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking to allow to come to room temperature. Heat your griddle or frying pan over a high heat.

2. Lightly brush the steak with a little olive oil, or Donegal rapeseed oil and season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper just before cooking.

3. Don't cook off more than two steaks at a time and keep them spaced well apart. If you add too many steaks to the pan at once, the temperature will drop and the steak will stew, rather than fry.

4. Don't turn the steaks until good seared markings are achieved, then turn them over and cook on the other side (see timings, below).

5. Let the steak rest for about 2 minutes (under loose tinfoil if you want) before serving, to allow the juices that have been drawn to the surface to relax back into the meat.

Fillet Steak

 Cooking Times for Steaks.

These timings are based on cooking a Sirloin steak that's about 2cm (3/4 of an inch) thick. Cooking times will vary depending on the type and thickness of the steak, and how hot your pan is. Be adventurous and try cooking your steak a little less well done than you normally would. I guarantee that you’ll never eat a well-done steak again once you’ve tasted a really juicy medium!

Blue: 1 minute each side

Rare: 1½ minutes each side

Medium rare: 2 minutes each side

Medium: 2½   minutes each side

Medium-well done: 3 minutes each side.

Well Done: 5 minutes each side - but do try to eat your steak a little less done than you usually would and you'll discover the real taste of Irish Steak!

Juicy Medium Rare - Just the way I like it!

Don't Forget to Feed the Fish at the Bottom of this Post!
zack